Trustees Garrett Peck and Margie Bonuchi were absent at the Dec. 1 meeting, and Trustee Dan Rippy's seat is vacant after winning a judgeship in last month's elections.

Peck was still absent this past Monday, but Bonuchi was back and the proposal passed with only Trustee Paul Fay voting against it.

Collins said after the meeting that he voted no on the district at the Dec. 1 session so that more trustees could be in attendance to vote on the measure.

"It was with the intent of having more people here to vote," he said.

Tax increment financing is used to devote property tax dollars to economic development within a specific area. The districts allow a municipality to use some property taxes generated from that area for improvements for up to 23 years. The districts also help governments acquire property and tear down existing buildings.

With trustees Garrett Peck and Margie Bonuchi absent, and with former trustee Dan Rippy's seat vacant after he won the 12th...

Plainfield has one established in the historic downtown area, village manager Brian Murphy said earlier this month.

"We've had some good successes in the downtown area," he said. "We'd like to see if we could parlay that in the other corridor."

The plan involves a $26,100 study to establish parameters along the Route 30 corridor and will be followed by a $52,100 redevelopment strategy.

Trustee Bill Lamb praised the passage Monday, saying the corridor's development is important to Plainfield.

Bonuchi called the stretch of Route 30 from Interstate 55 to the town center "a key area."

The corridor enjoys benefits such as accessibility and underused land parcels, she said.

"We're sitting on an area that's got great potential," she said.

Murphy said the town has met with other taxing jurisdictions on the arrangement, which is known as a TIF district.

"There is general agreement that this is in an area where a TIF would make good sense," he said.

It was a good night for fans of Route 30 redevelopment in general, as the board also approved an agreement for a vast reconstruction, widening and expansion of the artery that is slated to significantly alter the corridor from the town center to I-55.

An approximately $33 million Illinois Department of Transportation plan to revamp the road is slated to finally go out for bid in the coming months, Public Works Director Allen Persons said Monday.

Plainfield will pay about $1.04 million toward the project, with the majority of the tab, about $25.6 million, being funded by the federal government, according to village documents.

Illinois will pay about $6.1 million, while Will County will bankroll roughly $20,100 and Joliet will chip in about $31,600.

Persons said the project could take up to two years to complete, and officials have in the past warned about Route 30 construction-related congestion as the project proceeds.

Plainfield has been working with IDOT for years on the plan's specifications, according to village documents.

The Route 30 reconstruction and expansion will include replacement of 90-year-old water mains, a new sewer system and traffic signals.

The new Route 30 will also feature a 10-foot-wide bike path on the west side of the road and a sidewalk on the other, Persons said, "all those things that make the community more walkable."

The project aims to reduce traffic congestion, improve safety and extend water and sewer mains to areas of the Route 30 corridor in order to encourage redevelopment, according to village documents.

Persons said the roadwork will hopefully begin in the spring.

Trustee Jim Racich praised plans to extend water and sewer mains to areas along Route 30 that could soon garner redevelopment interest.

"Get prepared for the future," he said. "The money spent today will be well served in the very near future."